Tales of the Prophet
by Seraphim Orion
Summary: Elijah Shaw was pulled into the world of Tales of Symphonia, and now it's his duty as the Prophet of Martel to make sure things aren't screwed up. Not a Self-insert, but the same kind of idea. Pairings inside.
1. Letter from a Goddess

Title: Tales of the Prophet  
Description: Elijah Shaw was pulled into the world of Tales of Symphonia, and now it's his duty as the Prophet of Martel to make sure things are not screwed up.  
Rating: T for the time being**  
**Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Drama**  
**Pairings: ColetteLloyd;ZelosSheenaOC  
Author's Note: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.

** Chapter 1  
A Letter from a Goddess**

"Mom, Dad... left. That was okay wasn't it? For me to let him go... it was okay, right?" A young man in red spoke, kneeling down at his mother's grave.

"...Lloyd. You wanted to go with him, didn't you," a dwarf said in a heavy Scottish accent.

"No, I have my own path to follow. And dad has his. ...And besides, I have a dad here already!"

"I see. Then I won't say anymore."

"...Mom, I'll leave Dad's sword here beside you. Well.. I'm off." The young man walked past his adoptive father as the view pulled out to reveal a blond haired girl and a large dog-like creature waiting for him.

A sigh escaped into the quiet apartment living room of Elijah Shaw. "Well... yet another successful play through of Tales of Symphonia. 10x EXP makes all the difference," the young man said with a bit of a laugh. He stood up and stretched, then walked over to the large window on the other side of the room. It was late afternoon on a lazy Saturday, the sky slightly overcast, threatening to release the moisture held in the clouds. "Still have some daylight," he said aloud, "Might as well..."

Leaving his Gamecube controller on the couch, Eli stood up and gathered a few things into a bag. Two notebooks, a few pens, his iPod, a hoodie to through over his t-shirt, and a few other miscellaneous things. He slung the single strap bag over his shoulder as he walked out the door, locking it behind him. He slowly made his way across the apartment complex's parking lot toward his silver mini-van. It was a high school graduation present from his parents. They bought a new car and gave him the family van. He kept it rather clean, seeing as how he couldn't stand it being dirty, one of the few things he was OCD about. He slid into the driver's seat and pushed the key into the ignition and turned it.

It was an uneventful drive to his 'spot', a cliff overlooking the ocean, covered with grass and a single large tree standing over it. Eli came here to think, or write, or draw, or sometimes even do homework. He just felt at peace here, and he always enjoyed looking out over the ocean. He discovered it a while after moving to Northern California with his parents four years ago. Before that, he had live in the suburbs of Los Angeles his whole life. The twenty year old breathed in the moisture filled air as he leaned against the tree and slid down it until he was sitting at it's base. He pulled a notebook and pen out of his bag and started doodling something. However, soon the daylight disappeared from the sky and was replaced with a black sky, the only sources of light the moon and a few stars. Eli released a frustrated sigh, and put his things back in his bag. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, deciding that he would just relax there a bit before returning home.

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he started to feel odd. From behind closed lids he could tell that the area had just gotten a whole lot brighter. Maybe headlights? He slowly opened an eye when his whole body started to feel numb. He looked around, making an attempt to stand, but he couldn't move his legs. Then he realized where the light was coming from, underneath him. The ground beneath the tree was glowing, and as odd as it seemed, he felt like he had seen this before. He panicked, trying to get away, but he was paralyzed, unable to even move his neck now. Elijah soon passed out, the world around him growing dark.

"Ugh..." Elijah moaned as he awoke from his sleep. "Why do I feel like I slept on concrete?" He slowly sat up, rubbing his head to stop the throbbing pain. He opened his eyes, expecting to see his apartment bedroom. "What the hell!" He observed his surroundings and most definitely did not see his bedroom. He was in a room with brick walls, with windows on either side of the room. Oddly enough, there wasn't any glass in them. He looked down to what he was sleeping on. It was a red, see through material, harder than plastic, but not quite metal. Somehow, all of this was familiar, and quickly the events of the previous night came back to him. His eyes widened as it all came together. "Holy shit! I'm in Sylvarant!" He was sitting on the seal in the Martel Temple, and sitting on the altar in front of him was Colette's Cruxis Crystal. This had to be a dream, that's it. He fell asleep last night under the tree and this whole thing was a dream, an awesome dream, but a dream none the less. He looked out the window and saw no Tower of Salvation, and the Cruxis Crystal was still here, meaning that the World Regeneration journey had not yet begun. Or maybe he wasn't even in the same time as the game took place.

It was then that Elijah realized that he wasn't wearing his outfit from yesterday. He looked himself over, and saw what he was wearing. A long sleeve green jacket with a silver trim and a hood, unzipped and cut off at mid chest. Under that he was wearing a white and green sleeveless zip-up shirt with a raised collar. He also was wearing a pair of khaki pants, cut off at the ankles, with a pair of brown leather belts, one slanted and the other in the normal position. His hands were covered in a pair of brown fingerless gloves and he had a pair of brown boots on his feet. This was just so odd. He stood up slowly, his body feeling sore. Eli then noticed several things that were scattered around were he was laying, the thing standing out the most a sheathed sword. A freaking sword! It was a one-handed sword, and the hilt was different then that of a traditional sword. Instead of the cross hand guard there was a circular guard, with an design carved into it. He had no idea what to do with it, he had never used a sword, let alone held one. Elijah's gaze drifted from the sword to his bag which had apparently followed him into Sylvarant. The last thing he noticed was a small black leather bounded note book that he didn't recognize, as well as a small gem with an intricately carved device next to it.

"An Exsphere?" He picked up the jewel and what he supposed was a Key Crest, as well as the note book. He opened it and saw faded yellow pages, most of them blank except for the first page on which was written a letter.

_Dear Elijah,_

_I am deeply sorry to have dragged you into this. If I did not think it was important, I wouldn't have brought you here. I'm sure you have many questions, and they will all be answered in time. I brought you here to ensure that everything goes according to plan. I do not know why, but I feel as though something is different, and no matter what the cost, the world's must be united. Please, assist Lloyd and the others, for the sake of the world. You shall be a Prophet for a Goddess that does not exist. Once again I apologize for dragging you into this, but you were the best possible choice.  
_

_Sincerely,  
Martel Yggdrasil_

"What the hell..." he said softly. "I thought Martel was bodiless, her soul part of the great seed." At least he knew now that he was in the same time that the game took place. He shrugged and put the black notebook in his bag. He figured none of this really mattered, since it was just a dream. He then looked at the gem he still held in his hand. It was a human life that held in his hands. Such a fate was too cruel, and the people who took so many lives should never be forgiven. Figuring that this was given to him for a reason, his curiosity over powering his thought that this was just a dream, he pondered over where he should place the gem. He had narrowed it down to either his chest or his hand, and then decided on placing it on his chest. After all, if need be he could hide it if it was on his chest, a task that would be much more difficult if it was on his hand. He slowly grabbed the Key Crest and placed it just below his neck. It was painful to put on, it felt as thought the skin underneath was being burned. Eli wondered if you could ever take a Key Crest off once you put it one. He then lifted up the Exsphere. It was a light blue color, that shimmered green if it caught the light at just the right angle. He placed it on the Key Crest and felt the jewel attach itself to his body. He felt as thought the energy in his body was fluctuating and he felt about ready to pass out when it settled. Elijah felt a wave of power come over him, and he felt better, stronger, than before.

"Well, might as well head to Iselia," he said aloud, feeling utterly ridiculous talking about going to a fictional town. He slung his bag over his neck, and attached his sword to the belt at his waist. Eli walked forward onto the purple warp pad, a little hesitant about doing so. The moment he stepped on he felt himself being moved from one place to another. "That was an interesting experience." He looked ahead and saw that the path was clear. _'Hmm, the force field must only be active when the Oracle has come,'_ he thought as he continued down the short path to the main room... which was filled with priests. He tried not to draw attention to himself, hoping that he would be able to slip by unnoticed since all of the priests were praying. Fortunately, he was able to get half-way through the room before some one noticed him, so he was able to make it look like he came from the other direction.

"Excuse me," an old man spoke, drawing the attention of the others in the room, "what can I do for you?"

"Uh... I..." Shoot! What in the world was he supposed to say. "I'm... on a pilgrimage to pray at all the temples. I... I heard that it would soon be time for the Chosen to start her journey, so I decided to go on a pilgrimage to pray for her success in regenerating the world." Hopefully that sounded plausible to them.

"I see. Then as per custom of the Church of Martel, we welcome you to this temple. Please, stay as long as you like," he said with a large smile. "My name is Pastor Cecil, and if you need any help at all, please do not hesitate to ask. We have many rooms available for travelers such as yourself, so if you need a place to stay, you are more than welcome here."

"Hi, I'm Elijah," Eli said with a slight bow. "Thanks, but it really isn't necessary. I don't know how long I'll be staying anyway. I do have one question though," Eli hesitated slightly, trying to decided on the correct wording. "I heard from a priest at the House of Salvation that the Oracle would be coming soon. I was just wondering how far a way it is." Eli figured he would probably would be a great liar by the time all of this ended.

"It should arrive tomorrow," Cecil said with a smile, probably happy that World Regeneration is near. Eli couldn't blame him for that, but was upset that these people didn't have a problem sending Colette off to her doom.

"Thank you," Eli replied. "If that is the case, then I will make sure to wish the Chosen herself good luck. I will offer my prayers here and then head back to Iselia. Thank you for all your help," Eli said with a smile. "May the Goddess bless you." He laughed internally at the word Goddess, a title bestowed upon a girl by her brother who was entirely too infatuated with his sister.

"And you as well," the pastor said, then went on his way. Eli turned and stood in front of a large statue of an Angel. He pretended to pray and then walked out of the temple, and made his way towards Iselia. It was an uneventful journey, though it was a long walk, longer than Eli believed he had ever walked before. He was surprised that he hadn't encountered any monsters, though he assumed that was because the oracle had not yet descended, so there was no need for them.

By the time he had arrived at Iselia, the sun was nearly set. Eli was surprised when he saw the village. It was much larger than it appeared in the game, but he supposed that it was only natural that it would be larger in real life, or dream life, as Elijah insisted it was. He remembered there not being an Inn here in the game, though he hoped there would be since the town was larger than in the game. Elijah slowly walked through the town, taking in the sights. The first place he recognized was Colette's house. He saw her, Frank, and Phaidra having dinner through the the front window of the home. It was amazing, seeing the Chosen in real life as opposed to the cell-shaded graphics of the game. He stood there for a few minutes, taking in the sight, hoping not to be noticed... although if he was, he could pass it off as just wanting to see the Chosen.

After a while, he moved on, passing the school house. He eventually came to the Sage's house, and saw Lloyd and Genis sitting together, dangling their legs in the small pond. _'This is so weird,'_ Elijah thought as he quickly moved on, not wanting the two boys to spot him. He decided to search for an Inn, and found one quickly. It was small and cozy, looking to only have one or two rooms. He almost stepped inside when he realized he didn't have any Gald, or maybe... He searched through his bag trying to find anything that wasn't there before. When he felt something unfamiliar, he grabbed it and pulled it out. It was a small brown pouch, and when he opened it, Eli saw dozens of coins held in the bag. He gave a sigh of relief. Pouch in hand, he walked into the building. There was a blonde haired woman at the desk, looking somewhat bored. They probably didn't get a lot of visitors in Iselia. "Hi," he said shyly, "I need a room for the night."

"Hmm? Oh!" The woman was snapped out of her thoughts and smiled. "Sorry about that. It's 50 Gald a night"

Elijah nodded his head and reached into the sack. Luckily, the coins were marked with numbers, so he reached in and pulled out two medium sized coins that were worth 25 each. "Here you go," he said as he handed the woman the coins.

"Thank you very much. You'll be staying in the room just to the right here," She said, pointing to a closed wooden door.

Eli gave a quick thank you and proceeded to his room. It was small. Only big enough for one, maybe two, people. He sighed and sat down on the bed when his eyes caught site of a mirror. He hadn't seen a mirror all day, so he had no idea what he really looked like in his new outfit. He stood up and strode over to the mirror. Before anything else, he noticed that everything about him seemed little brighter. From his hair and eyes, to even his new clothes. It seemed as though the colors in this world were just more vibrant... or it was probably just a dream thing. He plopped down on the bed and blew out the small candle on the nightstand ridding the room of all light. Elijah then quickly fell asleep, hoping to wake up in his own bed tomorrow morning.

* * *

**So, that's the first chapter. As you can kinda tell, it's the same sort of idea of a self-insert, but not, since Elijah isn't a representation of myself. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think! I'll have the next chapter up soon!**


	2. The Beginning of an Adventure

**And I'm back with Chapter 2. Special thanks goes to kitsunkuruoshii for being the first to review. As per your request, here's more.**

**Chapter 2  
The Beginning of an Adventure**

Sunlight peaked through the blinds of the small bedroom, and Elijah woke to the smell of something cooking. He couldn't put his finger on the scent, but it smelled delicious nonetheless. He slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the daylight. "Wait," he said groggily, "who's cooking?" He lifted himself up and looked around, hoping to be in his own bedroom. He quickly recognized the room as, not his own bedroom, but as the bedroom in the Inn. The events of the previous day quickly caught up with him. "Okay, so maybe this isn't a dream," Elijah pondered as he crawled out of the bed, and adjusted the pants he had chosen to sleep in. He picked up the shirt that had been flung to the other side of the room the previous night and pulled it over his head, ignoring the fact that it had a zipper. Eli then grabbed the jacket he hung on the bedpost. He quickly pulled on his boots, and gathered his bag and sword.

"Good morning," a feminine voice called out from what appeared to be the kitchen.

"Um, good morning," Elijah said shyly as he approached the kitchen. He quickly recognized the woman as the one who was at the desk last night. She was busy cooking a meal of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Elijah nodded yes to answer her question. "Good! I'll be done with breakfast in just a moment." As she turned back to the stove and continued stirring the eggs, he felt his stomach rumble. "Oh! I forgot! I'm Abby, by the way. Well, Abigail, but Abby for short. I would've introduced myself last night, but I was a bit lost in my thoughts."

"I'm Elijah," he said in response. "Eli for short. It's nice to meet you Abby." Taking his leave, he made his way to what appeared to be the dining room. Eli pulled out a chair and sat quietly, waiting for Abby to bring the meal.

"Here you go," she said, placing a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him, as well as a plate in front of the chair across from him and a small plate stacked with toast.

"This looks delicious. Thank you Abby," he said with a smile before turning to to shovel eggs into his mouth.

"Don't mention it." Abby replied as she sat down. "So Eli... What brings you to our humble town of Iselia?"

"I'm on a pilgrimage," he stated as he swallowed. "About six months ago I decided to go on a journey to pray for the Chosen's success at all the churches in Sylvarant," he explained, deciding to keep with the lie he told the Priest. He felt bad about lying but he couldn't just say 'I was sent here from a world called Earth by the Goddess Martel, who isn't even a real Goddess by the way, to be a prophet and guide the Chosen's journey.'

"Wow, you're dedicated," she commented after taking a bite.

"Hmm, I guess you're right. I just figured that since it's been so long since the last successful World Regeneration, that this Chosen could use all the help she can get." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "So what about you Abby? Do you run this inn by yourself?"

"Yeah, I have for a while. Originally, it was my parents who ran it, and I grew up helping out here," she explained as she smiled, recalling memories. "Then, about six years ago, my father became Mayor, so he didn't have time to help out anymore."

"Your dad's the mayor?" He asked surprisedly.

"Ha, yeah. Have you met him?"

He wished he could say, 'No, but I know he's one racist cowardly son of a bitch.' Instead he said, "No, I'm just surprised that the daughter of the mayor would be working in an inn."

"Oh, well, after he became the mayor, my mom continued to run it, at least until she became ill." The look in her eyes changed to a look of sadness. "She passed away two years ago, and I have been running the inn by myself ever since."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, lowering his head.

"It's alright," she replied, a small glimmer in her somewhat teary eye. "It's feels so long ago, it doesn't bother me much now." Eli nodded as he buttered a piece of toast. He always felt bad when someone told him they had lost someone close to them, though Abby seemed to have dealt with it, so it made him feel a bit better.

"So, isn't it kind of dangerous to, you know, run this place by yourself?" Eli questioned as he took a bite of toast.

"Not really," she replied with a smile. "We don't really get visitor's all that often. Plus, the village is pretty secure, since the Chosen is here and such. Not to mention I pretty much know everyone in the village."

"That makes sense," Elijah said as he let out a content sigh and leaned back in his chair. "Thank you so much for your hospitality Abby. I think this is the first meal I've shared with another person in a long while," and he was sad to say that wasn't a lie.

"Your very welcome," she replied as she gathered the plates and took them to the kitchen. "Are you going to return tonight, or are you leaving today?"

"It depends." Eli stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. "I'm really not sure what I'm gonna do."

"I see," Abby said as she returned from the kitchen. "Then, if I don't see you again, it was very nice meet you Elijah." She smiled and stretched out her hand, "but, if you do decide to stay another night, you'll have a bed waiting for you here."

Eli returned her smile and reached out his hand to shake hers. "Thanks Abby. I appreciate it." Letting go of her hand, he reached for his sword and strapped it to his side. "Well, I'm gonna get going. Thanks again." With that, he exited the tiny inn and headed towards the city gate.

Elijah figured he should probably figure out if he could actually fight at all, so he decided to make his way to the forest to train a while. He assumed the Oracle wouldn't be coming for another few hours, so he had time to do a bit of training.

"Stop right there," a voice called out to him from the gate. Eli stopped and looked at the guard standing in front of the gate. "I don't recognize you as one of the citizens, are yo leaving town?"

"Umm, kinda. I was planning to go to the forest to train, then return later," he explained to the guard.

"Very well. But please stay away from the Human Ranch, this town has a non-aggression treaty with the Desians, and if you trespass there, they may mistake you as one of our citizens."

Elijah nodded his head. "Of course," Elijah assured him and continued on his way.

"Okay, I'm warning you!" Almost immediately after he entered Iselia Forest, Elijah was approached by a Minicroid. He remembered seeing these things in the game and thinking how ridiculous it was to be fighting a walking mushroom. "You asked for it, Mushroom man!" He tightened his grip on the sword in his hands and swung diagnolly, from his upper right to lower left, at the enemy. All the sudden, it came rushing to him, like he had spent years practicing swordsmanship. A horizantal slice followed the previous strike, and soon the minicroid was lying still in the dirt.

"I- I know how to fight!" He wasn't quite sure, but he figured that the Exsphere that was attached to his chest had something to do with it. He sliced at the air, followed by another, and another, and soon, he was executing each attack perfectly, like they were steps in a dance. He continued this routine until he was interrupted by a flower. First a musroom, then a flower. What was it with this world and it's deadly plants.

The monsterous flower was dispatched in no time at all, and Eli searched for his next victim. Quickly, he found his next oponent, a... rabbity. If it wasn't so insistent on attacking him, Elijah would have thought it was rather cute. Instead of the usual fare, he decided that he should probably learn how to use Techs, so while dodging the bunny's attempts to claw his leg to pieces, he recalled whatever he could about using techniques in the game. _'They rely on mana, so if I summon mana from my body into a physical form, I should be able to...' _He was drawn out of his thoughts by a sharp pain in his leg.

"Oh, so that's the game your playing," Elijah smirked. "Well, two can play at this game." _'What an incredibly cliched line. Did I really just say that?'_ He shrugged it off, and focused on pulling mana from his body. He felt an incredible surge of energy race from his chest, threw his arm, and into his sword. "Demon Fang!"

In front of Elijah layed the torn up corpse of the bunny rabbit. A sting in his leg remined him of the injury the rabbit inflicted on him. It didn't hurt too bad, but he didn't want it to get infected, so he aproached a nearby stream. He sat down, and reached his hand into the stream,brought up some water, and rubbed it on his wound. It had stopped bleeding, and it didn't looked bad, so Eli figured he would be okay. he just wished that he had bought some Apple Gels before leaving the village. Or maybe...

He dug through his bag and searched for anything that he didn't notice before. Sure enough, just as the bag of Gald appeared mysteriously the night before, here he was, holding a brown leather pouch filled with... pills? Gels were pills? He carefully pulled one out. It was red in color, and it was on the larger side. The weirdest thing about them however, although he probably should have expected this, was the texture. It felt like Jell-O, though maybe a tad stiffer. It then occurred to him that he didn't know whether he ws supposed to eat it, or spread the substance on his skin. Elijah figured it wouldn't hurt to do both, so he tore the pill in half. He mashed one half in his fingers a bit to soften it up, and then spred it on the wound. It stung a bit, but the sensation was soon gone, and the area felt numb. Elijah threw the other half in his mouth and swallowed, noting that it tasted exactly as its name suggested.

Replacing the small pouch in his bag, he stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants. When he looked down at his leg, he could barely see the scrape anymore. "What the hell?" He was shocked. "It's like magic!" He stared at his leg a moment longer, and decided not to waste anymore time. He only had an hour or so before he needed to return to Iselia, and he needed to practice more.

"Lloyd Irving, wake up!" The teacher's voice called, only to be met with the sleeping ramblings of the boy she was talking to. "Lloyd!" she called again, with a slightly harsher tone. How he was sleeping standing up,and holding buckets of water, she did not know. She grabbed the closest thing to her and threw it at him, luckily for him, it was only an eraser.

"Gahh!" The boy let out a startled shout. He dropped the buckets, spilling a tiny bit of water, and then looked around to see what hit him.

"Hopnestly, how can you sleep standing?" The teacher shook her head at Lloyd and approached him.

"Oh... Professor Raine. Is class over?" Lloyd rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment

Raine let out heavy sigh and started to walk back to her desk. "Never mind. Let's have someone else answer the question." The 'elf' stopped and turned around, then pointed at a silver-haired boy. "Genis, how about you?"

Elijah stood outside the schoolhouse, leaning against the wall. He inwardly laughed at the conversation going on inside the building. He felt odd though. Even though he had heard this conversation so many times, it felt so weird to actually be listening to it in real life.

He had just arrived back in town about a half hour ago, and the whole town was empty. He assumed that the Renegades had already entered the town. He was glad that he didn't have to take part in a serious fight just yet, though he had pretty much perfected the basics of battle during his time in the forest. He had no problem using techs now, and he even was able to work on using Guardian a bit. Eli laughed at the fact that he really just practiced Guardian to show off when the time came.

"It is a journey to seal the Desians." When Elijah returned his attention to the conversation taking place inside the school, the bright voice of Colette was explaining the purpose of the World Regeneration journey. _'What a load of BS.'_ "Upon passing the trials of the Goddess Martel, the Summon Spirits that protect the world awaken, and mana is restored."

The oracle would be coming soon, and Elijah hadn't even thought about what he was going to say to Lloyd, Colette, and Genis. All of the sudden their was a flash of light, and nothing could be seen. A moment later his sight returned. He rubbed his eyes as they re-adjusted, "Man, they should really turn the brightness down on that thing." Soon the door swung open and out came Raine Sage. She was walking at a fast pace, and only glanced at Elijah, not bothering to stop.

Elijah knew at any moment, the three would walk outside, and he became anxious. Sure enough, a moment later there they were. "Chosen," he hesitantly called out to Colette.

"Oh! Yes?" The blond said as she turned around, somewhat surprised.

"I wanted to wish you a happy birthday, Chosen," Eli said in a very formal matter, noticing that Lloyd looked like he wanted hit himself. "I also wanted to wish you a good luck on your upcoming journey."

"Thank you very much," she bowed in appreciation.

"Hey," another voice spoke, and Eli turned his sight to Lloyd. "Do you know where everyone is? It's really quiet."

Eli hesitated a bit, then decided to answer Lloyd's question. "They're all hiding."

"Why?" Colette asked in a concerned voice before letting Eli continue.

"A group of Desian's passed through a while ago. I believe they headed towards the temple," Elijah spoke, more calmly than he really should he should have been.

"But why?" Genis asked, speaking for the first time. "Iselia has a non-aggression treaty with the Desians?"

"Thats right," Colette confirmed. "My grandmother says that it exists to protect me... Wait! Where is grandmother?"

Then right on cue they were joined by another person. "Collete! I'm glad you're alright," the blond man said as he joined the group.

"Father!" Colette ran towards Frank. "Where's grandmother?"

"She is at the temple, preparing for the ritual" he said in response.

"The temple?" The tone in Lloyd's voice was a worried one, "But thats where the Desians are?"

"Don't worry, the preists are with her," Frank assured, trying to calm them down. "Now, Colette..."

"I know," the Chosen said as she tooka deep breath. "I promise to fulfill my duties as the Chosen."

Eli felt awkward just standing there, so he decided to finally speak. "If the Chosen is alright with this, I would like to accompany her," he offered as he stepped forward.

"That's okay. I don't want to be a burden-"

Eli didn't let her finish her sentence. "It's not a problem. Besides, it's the obligation of any follower of Martel to do whatever they can for the Chosen. If I had the opportunity to assist you, but didn't, and found out later something happened to you, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

"Thank you," Frank said on her behalf. "Lloyd, Genis, you two should head on home."

"I want to go with Collete to the temple!" Lloyd pleaded to go along.

"Yeah, me too!" The half-elf added.

"Alright," Frank said, and the look on Colette's face became happier. "Just be careful. I'll be waiting at the house, so come straight back there if anything happens."

Elijah nodded. "I promise bring her home safe and sound." He smiled and waved the others towards him as he headed towards the gate. "Come on, Colette has an Oracle to accept."

They started walking a bit before Lloyd stopped them. "Hey, we never really introduced ourselves, and I don't recognize you from around here."

"You're right. I'm not from Iselia. This was my last stop on a pilgramage," Elijah explained, lieing again.

Lloyd took in this information and processed it. "Well, my name's Lloyd, and this is my friend Genis," the boy said, pointing to the silver-haired 'elf', "and you know who Colette is."

Eli nodded, in both confirmation and acknowledgement. "I'm Elijah Shaw. Eli for short. It's very nice to meet you all," he gave a slight bow, then turned back towards the gate. "Let's get going."

* * *

**Don't ask me why I spent a page and a half developing a character that will appear maybe two more times in the story. Anyway, hope you all like this chapter. The next one will have quite a bit more dialogue, and hopefully won't be as boring as these introduction chapters. Anyway, Reviews please!**


	3. Wait, This Wasn't in the Game

**Thank you everyone for reviewing. I'm extremely sorry that this is late. Really really really late. I've been really busy with school and work, and I had a serious case of writer's block for a while. Anyway, moving on. Alright, so I'm gonna answer a few question. To my knowledge, Elijah Shaw is just a name I picked. It has relevance, but I didn't name him after anyone. I can tell you right now that I named him Elijah after the Bible prophet of the same name. Also, there is an explanation behind his instant knowledge in swordsmanship. As you'll see in this chapter, he's not perfect at it, he just knows basics. You'll have to wait for the explanation behind it. Lastly, it is my intention to change things up, as you'll see in this chapter. **

**Anyway, again, I'm really sorry. Thanks again for reviewing!**

**Chapter 3  
Wait, This Wasn't in the Game**

"Another zombie dead... again!" Lloyd exclaimed proudly as the fighters regrouped. "We're almost to the temple," the young man observed, which received a hidden roll of the eyes from Eli. Lloyd had a knack for stating the obvious. Just as the group started to proceed, Lloyd felt something tugging on his leg. He looked down and saw that the dead again zombie was attached to his leg. "Stupid zombie," he said under his breath as he kicked it out of his way- and straight into Eli.

Elijah jumped with a shout of "Get it off! Get it off! GET IT OFF!" He finally managed to break free from his entrapment, and turned to Lloyd. "Don't go around throwing zombies at people; you could poke someone's eye out."

Lloyd managed to get out a quick apology while trying to hold in his laughter. It didn't last long. Soon he was laughing hysterically, and was joined by Genis, while Colette looked like she wasn't quite sure why they were laughing. _'What have I gotten myself into,'_ Eli thought as he glared at Lloyd and Genis. "Let's just get to the temple. And be prepared to fight."

"Why?" Colette obliviously asked. Did Eli really have to explain everything? "Because the Desians were headed to the temple, and I highly doubt that a bunch of pastors could take care of them," he sighed. Okay, he may have been a little pissy, but who wouldn't be after being sucked into the world of a video game. It was then that it hit him like a ton of bricks. If this really was real, and not merely a dream, then was his family worrying? It had only been a day, and he lived by himself, so maybe they didn't realize it yet, but pretty soon, they might start to suspect something.

Now that he had thought about it, he was dealing with all of this too calmly. He should be freaking out, he was in the world of Tales of Symphonia, after all, and he was traveling with people he thought were just characters in a game. But he wasn't panicking, or worried, he may have felt a little guilty, because he didn't want his parents to worry about him. What he felt most out of all the possible feelings he could be feeling was comfort. He felt comfortable here, even a bit calm about the whole thing. Of course, he wasn't sure yet if this was real or not, for all he knew, he could still be sleeping under the big tree he loved so much.

Eli was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the stairs in front of him until he kicked the bottom step accidently. "Oh... we're here." He turned to look at the three behind him, "Are you guys ready," he said as he withdrew his sword from it's sheath in a bit of a jumbled motion. Eli was about to start up the stairs before Colette ran past him.

"Pastor Cecil!" she yelled as she ran up the steps, somehow managing not to trip. Lloyd followed quickly behind her, "Hey, are you all right?" Genis and Eli came running right behind them, and Eli realized that this was the same pastor that he had spoken to the other day. Quickly, Eli threw open his bag and fumbled around trying to find an Apple Gel. As soon as he found one, he quickly moved to the pastor and shoved it down his throat. He didn't know if it would help, but he was willing to try.

"Chosen," the pastor said, attempting to talk, "the Desians broke the non-agression treaty and attacked the temple. Quickly... the Oracle..." He gasped for a breath. "Please.... be careful. I only regret... that I will not... be able... to protect... the Cho..." He had stopped breathing.

"Pastor, hang on!" she cried. "He's... gone..." Eli said, wishing he had been able to do more. "Let's go," he sighed, not wanting to linger around the dead man. He had never been around a dead person before. "But what about the Desians?" Genis said, afraid to go on. "You came knowing that the Desians were here, didn't you?" Eli said, trying not to give away his own fear. "Now..." he continued, "we just have one more reason to kick their asses," he finished, trying to put up a brave smile.

"He's right," Lloyd said drawing his swords. "Besides, we have to help Colette receive the Oracle," the young man said excitedly. With new resolve, the group made their way up to the temple. The 'Desians' were wreaking havoc upon the pastors trying to defend the Temple. "We have to stop them!" Lloyd shouted as he ran, wooden swords in hand. He hurriedly approached a Desian, slashing with the blade in his right hand. _'This is so crazy,'_ Eli sighed. As Lloyd began fighting, Eli heard a voice with a British accent ask about Colette.

"Where is the Chosen?" the man who Eli knew to be Botta, questioned an old woman. Eli had to stop and take a second to look at what the man was wearing. It didn't seem weird in the game, but now looking at the man in real life, he had to question his strange sense of fashion. "A dress, really?" he questioned under his breath. "Sir, the chosen is here!" one of the Renegades informed their leader. "Excellent," Botta replied, turning away from Phaidra. "And it looks like he was unable to join us, fortunately." Eli wondered if he was talking about Kratos. "Take her out!" It was at this, Eli saw a Renegade fast approaching Colette. Lloyd was still fighting the other Renegade, and Genis was charging a spell. "Looks like it's up to me," he said, charging to where Colette was. He raised his sword and slashed at the Renegade, whom he had apparently caught off guard. "You Desians aren't getting a way with hurting Colette!" Eli heard Lloyd yell. "Desians?!" one of them said, laughing. "You hear that! Well then, It'll be the Desians that kill your precious Chosen!"

Eli was struggling to keep up with his opponent. It was then that he felt an odd sensation in his chest. It was like a numb pulsing, but with every pulse, he felt a little stronger. _'Is it my Exsphere?'_ He was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard a cry of "Fireball!" from Genis, and a flash of heat flew past him. Then he heard Colette, who was managing to keep her own, yell "Ray Thrust!" Lloyd was quite a distance from where Eli was, but from what he could see, Lloyd was doing well. He decided to try out a tech of his own, hoping it would help him out. He concentrated on pulling energy out from his body and into his blade. "Demon Fang!" he yelled, and with a swing, the mana flew out of his sword in a blueish-green wave and struck the Renegade. _'Man, that is so awesome!'_ Soon, he managed to over power the Renegade with the help of another Fireball from Genis. Eli leaned on his knees, attempting to catch his breath. He looked around the battlefield and noticed that Lloyd's opponent was down as well.

"Damn it! I guess I'll have to take care of the Chosen myself!" Botta charged at the group._ 'No Vidarr?'_ Eli thought to himself, _'Damn, we may have stood a chance against the giant, but this will be ridiculous. And where the hell is Kratos?'_ Eli and Lloyd charged at the man. "Take this!" Lloyd shouted, "Sonic Thrust!" After using the attack, he looked a bit surprised. Eli figured he must have just learned it. Eli ran towards Botta and thrust his sword at him. Eli charged up another Demon Fang to throw at the man. "Fang Blade!" Eli slashed down at the man and then made an arc and slashed up and jumped raising his Botta with him. _'What was that! Fang blade... that was an arte from Abyss,'_ he thought as he landed. "Woah! What was that?" Genis excitedly asked after launching a Stone Blast. Apparently Eli wasn't the only one who was surprised by his new tech. "Oww!" Eli yelled in pain. Botta had caught him while he was open at the end of his tech. He looked down at his arm, noticing a small cut in his jacket with a bit of blood coming out of it. He stepped back to catch his breath as Colette threw her chakrams at Botta, and Lloyd was doing well matching him blow for blow.

"Damn, I can't believe I'm being forced to retreat by a bunch of kids," the Renegade said with anger. "Don't think this is the end Chosen," he remarked as he disappeared from sight.

"We did it!" Lloyd shouted excitedly. Eli thought that what they just accomplished shouldn't have been possible. _'Maybe he just wasn't prepared to fight.'_ Genis jumped up and down with excitement, as Colette ran to her grandmother. "Thank goodness your alright Grandmother!" Phaidra nodded "I am relieved that you are safe as well Colette." The old priestess then turned to Lloyd, Genis, and Eli, "Thank you for protecting the Chosen, Lloyd, Genis..." She looked at Eli, and he guessed what she was going to ask. "I'm Eli, ma'am," he said, bowing slightly. "Thank you for your help Eli. I apologize for asking this, but would it be possible for you to accompany the Chosen to receive the Oracle?"

Apparently all of the pastors who were supposed to be accompanying her were murdered by the 'Desians.' "I would be honored to do so," Eli replied with a small smile. "I'll protect Colette too!" Lloyd jumped in. "I want to see Colette receive the Oracle!" "Well-" Phaidra started but was interrupted by Colette. "Thank you, Lloyd! I get nervous when you're not around." Phaidra sighed, "Fine, but be careful!" "Alright! I can't wait to see the Oracle!" the swordsman in red said excitedly. "Then let's get going," Eli said as he headed towards the entrance, followed by Colette.

"Come on Genis, let's go!" Lloyd ordered as he walked towards the temple. "I'm going too?" Genis questioned, a bit caught off guard. "Of course you are!" Lloyd replied as he entered the building. "Don't I get a say in the matter?" the silver-haired boy asked, as he ran to catch up with his friend.

"Which way do we go?" Lloyd asked as he approached the center of the main chamber. Eli, knowing the answer already, had difficulty not blurting it out. "I think we should start to the left first," he stated as he pointed to the left passageway. "It looks like there's a barrier up ahead, so I don't think we can get through that way." He could tell that Lloyd was excited by the way he was fidgeting. "Let's go," he said as he took off down the passage, the other three behind them. Eli was surprised by what he saw. There wasn't a dead end, but rather a long hallway, lined with doors. "Hey, umm... Chosen, you wouldn't happen to know where we're supposed to go, do you?" Eli asked, stunned by the differences from the game. "Well..." she started while Lloyd peeked into a few of the rooms, "We have to use the Sorcerer's Ring to get through the barrier, and it's downstairs. I think the stairway is down the right hall." Eli felt like shooting himself. "Why didn't you tell us before?" He was going to have to get used to Colette. He liked her well enough in the game, but that was when she was just a character. He could excuse the ditziness as a plot device. But to think an actual person could be so... Eli stopped himself from continuing his rant. It wasn't like him to get so pissed of about something. _'This whole being in a video game must be catching up with me.'_

"Colette, how about you lead the way?" Lloyd suggested, noticing the look on Eli's face. "Okay," Colette replied, making her way to the head of the group and walking back to the main room. When they walked in to the room, the group were greeted by a Ghost and a Slime. "Alright, Let's go!" Lloyd shouted as he and Eli charged the slime, while Genis charged a spell to send at the ghost. "Demon Fang!" Eli exclaimed as he released a mana wave at the monster, vanquishing it. "Stone Blast!," Genis said as small boulder pummeled the ghost, killing it. "Too easy!" the silver-haired boy said as he put away his kendama.

A minute later the group was headed down the right hall, in both meanings of the word. They encountered a Zombie in the hall, blocking access to the stair way, but it was dispatched with little trouble. As he walked down the stairs, Eli wondered if the block puzzle would be there. His question was answered in a moment as he laid his eyes on a giant stone golem, and there in the back was what he could only guess was the Sorcerer's Ring. "What's that?" Genis shrieked when he saw the golem. Immediately Lloyd ran the rest of the way down the stairs and started attacking the stone beast. Eli and Colette followed, while Genis stayed back. "If you have a water or wind spell Genis, cast it!" Eli shouted to the boy as he hesitantly slashed at the golem, he wasn't quite sure what kind of damage a metal sword would do to an enemy made of stone, but he didn't want to just stand there. "Fang Blade!" Eli shouted, unleashing the tech on the monster. "Ray Thrust!" Colette called. "Wind Blade!" Eli heard Genis unleash the spell on the monster, and right after the golem transformed into a block.

"It changed shape," Colette said curiously before tripping and pushing the block down one of the holes in the floor. "Oh, I get it!" Genis stated as Colette and Lloyd gave each other confused looks. "I see," Eli said, pretending that he didn't know how to solve the puzzle before hand, "we're supposed to defeat the monsters and send the blocks down to fill the holes, so we can get to the Sorcerer's Ring." The confused expression left Lloyd's face, as he looked at a newly appeared golem. "Alright, so let's get to work," he said, charging the new monster.

Fifteen minutes later, the group had finished filling the holes. "Alright, now let's get that ring!" Eli felt like he was about to die. He had never been this active in one period of time as far back as he could remember. At least his Exsphere helped. Lloyd ran down the stairs to the stairs and up the path to where the Sorcerer's Ring was, with the rest in tow. "I wonder what it does?" Lloyd asked as he held the ring in his hand. "From what I've read," Eli said, lying again, "it uses the wearer's mana to unleash a ball of fire." "In other words," Genis started, "don't play around with it, Lloyd, or else it will exhaust your mana." "Fine, fine," Lloyd sighed dejectedly. "Alright, let's get back up stairs," Eli said making his way back to where they came from.

"Okay, you can use it now, Lloyd," Genis said rolling his eyes. "Alright!" Lloyd said gleefully as he placed the ring on his finger. "Here goes nothing!" Lloyd focused on the ring and sent mana through his body and out from the ring came a ball of fire. As soon as it hit, the barrier faded away. "Awesome!" Lloyd exclaimed as Colette clapped and Genis jumped up and down. It was good to see Lloyd's attention span wasn't as short as it was in the game. Eli would have been excited to see it, but compared to seeing people casting spells and trying to kill him with giant swords, it just wasn't that big of a deal to him. "Alright, Colette can accept the Oracle now. Let's go," Eli stated as he made his way to the teleporter. It wasn't any better the second time, and Eli felt his stomach do somersaults.

When he stepped off of the teleporter, he realized he was in a room he's never seen before. And there was something else he hadn't seen before. "Giant bug!" he shouted as the others stepped into the room. There hadn't been a boss here in the game, Eli thought as he hesitantly stepped forward. The bug was truly big. It looked like a giant horned beetle, and as soon as it saw it's company, it opened up his shell and let out it's huge insect wings. "I hate bugs," Eli sighed as the others took no time charging at the thing. Eli took out his sword and joined the others in combat.

"Sonic thrust!" Lloyed shouted at the end of a string of attacks. Genis stayed in the back and charged some spell, and Colette approached the bug and sung her chakrams at it. Eli slashed at it a few times and then followed it up with a Demon Fang. "Fireball!" Genis shouted as three small balls of fire were shot at the bug. After a few minutes, everyone drew back trying to catch their breath. "Damn it!" Lloyd sighed, "we're no match for it." The bug began to approach them, when they suddenly heard the teleporter. Eli saw an auburn-haired man run at the bug, sword in hand. _'It's about time.'_ Eli stood up and joined Kratos at the frontlines, soon followed by Lloyd. Hope had arrived in the form of a purple-clad man, and everyone had gotten a second wind.

"Fang blade!" Eli shouted, followed by a cry of Sonic Thrust from Lloyd. As Eli raised the bug up, it cleared way for Lloyd to thrust the bugs underside. With Kratos' help, the bug was soon vanquished.

"Wow, he was awesome, wasn't he Lloyd?" Genis cheered. "I guess so," Lloyd said, feeling as though someone stole his thunder. "You," Kratos turned to the red-clad swordsman, "your name is Lloyd?"

"Yeah," Lloyd replied, "but who are you to ask for my name?" Aww, father and son reunited. Kratos turned to Colette, while still looking at Lloyd through peripheral vision. "I'm Kratos Aurion, I'm a mercenary that's been hired to protect the Chosen." Then there was silence, it wasn't really awkward, but rather tense. Eli decided to break the silence, "Come on Colette, you still have to accept the oracle," he said as he brushed past Kratos towards where Colette was standing. "Right," she responded and the group made their way to the teleporter.

This time, they arrived in the Oracle room. The same one Eli woke up in the previous day. "This appears to be the top floor," Kratos stated. _'Thank you captain obvious. Now I know where Lloyd get's it from.'_ "Yes, that's the altar," Colette said, pointing to the thing that Eli had woken up on. "Then thsat shining thing must be the Cruxis Crystal," Lloyd said looking at the red gleaming stone. "That's right. They say I was born with that in my hand." Eli wondered how that was even possible. Cruxis crystals were supposed to be produced just like Exspheres, so there was no way it could be developed I the womb. "Look at that light!" Genis said excitedly. Suddenly the form of the angel Remiel appeared in the room. "Wh...what is that?" Lloyd stuttered. "An angel, I would assume," Kratos replied. Eli wanted to laugh aloud at the ridiculousness of Kratos assuming that. "So is that Colette's real father?" Genis asked. Eli felt bad for poor Frank. Raise a girl her whole life, and you can't even get credit for being her real father.

"I am Remiel. I am an angel of judgment. I am here to guide Colette, daughter of the mana lineage, on her journey to heaven as the seventh Chosen." Eli felt really angry looking at the supposed angel of judgement. Villains like Mithos could almost be forgiven, almost. But bastards like Remiel deserved to die. "The time has come to awaken the Goddess Martel, who sleeps at the center of the world." Bullshit. "Awaken the Goddess Martel... It's just like the legend Raine told us about," Genis said in awe. The Cruxis Crystal floats over to Colette and attaches to her chest. "From this moment, Colette becomes the Chosen of Regeneration. We of Cruxis bless this event, and hereby bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Sylvarant."

Through the window, Eli could see the tower in the distance. "Wow," he said under his breath. "So that's the Tower of Salvation!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Now the world will be saved," Genis cheered. "Colette, the Chosen of Regeneration. Unlock the seals that guard the Tower of Salvation and climb its stairs to heaven in distant lands." "I humbly accept this task," she replied. "Very good. We of Cruxis shall grant you the power of the angels with each seal you unlock. Once you are reborn as an angel, this eroded world shall be regenerated." "Thank you, I swear on my life that I will regenerate the world," Collette responded with a bow. Eli wondered how she did it. How she handled all the weight of the world on her sixteen year old shoulders.

"First head south, to the Seal of Fire. Offer your prayers in that distant land." "Yes, Lord Remiel... Uh, wait! Please wait! I have a question I wish to ask of you. Are you really my fa—" "First head to the Seal of Fire. Understood? My beloved daughter, Colette," the angel interrupted. " F…father!…So you really are my true father," she said ecstatically. "We shall meet again at the next seal, my daughter," the angel says as he leaves. Cruel bastard.

* * *

**So, different enough for you? Review, and I promise it won't be another five months before I post a chapter.**


	4. Score: Eli 1, Kratos 0

**Hey guys! Thank you for the reviews! I decided to try out a different writing style, using first person instead of third. It gives you a bit more insight into how Eli thinks. Tell me if you like it or not. This chapter and the next one will reveal a few details about why Eli's in the world of Aselia.**

**Chapter 4  
********Score Eli 1, Kratos 0 or Insanity, thy name is Wonder Chef**

"So that was the Oracle," Genis said, a look of awe in his eyes, "I wish Raine was here to see it."

"I can't believe how tall the Tower of Salvation is, to see it so clearly from so far away. Many people have been waiting their whole lives for this day," I mused aloud, attempting to not bring attention to myself. They might not have noticed, but I really didn't want to take a chance.

"That was so cool! I actually got to see an angel," Lloyd said energetically, as he walked towards Colette. "Are you okay Colette?" Lloyd asked the girl, who seemed a little shaken up from what I could tell.

"I can't believe Remiel is my father… I'm all right. I was just a little surprised. That's all." I didn't believe it either, the first time I played the game. It turned out I was right. Sick bastard, messing with the girl's emotions.

"Hmph," I heard come from the supposed mercenary in the corner of the room. I decided I would go over and say something, even though I felt like I could throw up just from the thought of talking to the seraphim.

"Kratos... right?" I asked him, attempting to feign ignorance. All I got was a nod from the seraphim. "I'm Elijah Shaw." I could see his eyes widen a bit, but I couldn't figure out what he was looking at. "Thank you for helping us out before. Without you, none of us would be here now."

"Your welcome," he said bluntly. Kratos shifted his vision to Colette, "You've received the oracle. Then let us leave now, Chosen." I knew he was straightforward, but he could at least be polite.

"Oh, yes..." She said, stepping back towards Kratos. "Uh... thank you, all of you. I'll see you later." The two stepped on to the teleporter and vanished from sight.

"She left..." Lloyd said, stating the obvious again, a habit which is going to grow old quickly.

"So I guess the rumor was true." Genis stepped towards his best friend.

"What rumor?" Of course Lloyd would be clueless.

"That the Chosen is the daughter of an angel, and not related to her father at all," I answered him. "Scientifically, that would be impossible, unless..." Unless Remiel was sleeping with Colette's mom, but I didn't think Lloyd and Genis were ready for that. "But who knows what could happen by the hand of the Goddess."

"Well, I think that even if you're not related by blood, family is still family." I wanted to apologize, but I wasn't quite sure how I could explain how I knew that Lloyd was raised by a dwarf. Not even Lloyd would buy that I was psychic.

"Hmm, well, there's no need for us to stand around here." I said, breaking the silence that had entered the room. I really hate the teleporter. I stepped off, holding my stomach, and Lloyd and Genis appeared behind me. And there was Raine, going crazy over the statues and ruins that lay in the temple.

"MARVELOUS!" I wasn't quite sure how Raine's 'Ruin Mania' would translate into this so-called reality, but apparently, it did so pretty well.

"Professor?" Lloyd was probably just as disturbed as I was. Genis was over to the side rolling his eyes and groaning. Poor kid had to live with this insanity.

"What?" The professor turned around, looking a bit shaken. "What are you two doing here? You're supposed to be studying in class!"

"Uh! Uh-oh..." Lloyd stuttered. Raine angrily stomped her way towards Genis. I would not want to be on that woman's bad side.

"Raine! I.. I'm sorry!" I felt embarrassed for Genis, having to get spanked in front of your best friend and and a guy whose practically a stranger.

"You're next Lloyd, are you ready?" She's really violent. As sad as it is, I really wanted to laugh at Genis, who was awkwardly rubbing his butt. Before she even gave Lloyd a chance to respond, she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying to the other side of the room. Chuck Norris would be proud of that kick. Heck, even he might not be able to withstand the wrath of Raine Sage.

"And who is this?" She turned to me and I twitched, hoping she wasn't going to kick my ass next.

"Uh, Elijah Shaw," I answered her trying not to stutter.

"Well then, Elijah, thank you for watching these two for me." Oh dear god, thank you for not round-house kicking me.

"Uh, yeah, you're welcome, Ms..." I really hated playing dumb, it was going to be annoying if I have to keep doing it.

"Raine Sage. I'm the teacher at the school in Iselia." She introduced herself to me before turning to look at Lloyd and Genis. "Now, you two, if you've learned your lesson, go back home. There will be

no class for the rest of the day."

"What about you?" Genis asked his sister I was curious about that too. In the game, they normally didn't let people in the temple. But since I didn't have any problems in here...

"I've received permission from Phaidra to study this temple a little while longer. It's not often that I'm allowed to study the artifacts in the temple." Oh, I guess that makes sense.

The three of us started to leave the temple when a loud voice came from behind us. "MUHAHAHAHAHA!" That woman's seriously insane.

"What was that?" Lloyd was about to turn around when Genis stopped him.

"You're better off not knowing..." Genis sighed and pulled his friend out of the temple.

* * *

Not much really happened on the way back to Iselia. I could hear Lloyd and Genis chatting about something, but I was a bit further ahead than them. I spent most of journey trying to figure out what I was going to say to try to join Colette's journey. When we reached the village, the three of us headed straight to the Chosen's house.

Inside sat Colette, Frank, and Phaidra. Apparently, they hadn't discussed who was going with Colette yet. "Colette!" Lloyd ran over to her. "Have you been here long?"

"No," the Chosen said cheerfully. "Mr. Kratos and I just got here a few moments ago." When she said that, I could see Lloyd frown.

"Thank you for protecting the Chosen," Phaidra spoke up, her words apparently directed towards me.

"Oh, it was nothing." I ran my hand through my hair. I really didn't like the credit. I'm not nearly as good of a swordsman as Lloyd.

"Please, make yourself at home," Frank gestured to me. "Lloyd, you should probably head home. Dirk might be worried."

"Right." Lloyd turned to me. "Thanks for helping us out." I nodded as he and Genis exited. Colette stood up and followed them out.

It was awkwardly quiet. Frank handed me a glass of water, and I gladly accepted. I tried to think of a reason to leave, but I really had nowhere to be, and I wanted to be around for the meeting that would take place later.

Colette soon came in, and a though hit me. Lloyd and Genis were heading to the Human Ranch. I could stop it. I could stop Marble from being turned into a monster. I could stop the Desians from attacking Iselia. But the more I thought about, the more I realized that it was events like what would happen tomorrow that turned Lloyd into the leader he would be. Plus, I really didn't want to screw things up.

"How old are you, Eli?" Colette asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm twenty." I tried to remember everyone's ages. They would probably tell me later, if I managed to join the journey.

"And where are you from?" Phaidra asked. Great, it was twenty questions, and I had no idea how to answer her. I really hadn't thought about it before now.

"I'm from Luin." Yeah, that would work. By the time we got there it would be destroyed, so it wouldn't ruin my story.

"Luin?" Frank looked surprised. "What brings you all the way out here?"

"Well, I've been traveling for a while, but recently I've been on a pilgrimage to pray at every church for the Chosen's success." I hate lying, I really do. Not that you could tell from frequency of my lies. But really, I couldn't just tell them that I was from a place called Earth and I knew the future.

"You're very dedicated for someone so young," Phaidra complimented. I smiled a bit as I heard the door open.

"Ahh, Kratos, Raine. Thank you for coming." The two came in and sat down at Phaidra's words. Apparently the Mayor wasn't going to be involved in this.

"So, what is this about?" Raine glanced from Frank and Phaidra, to Colette, and finally to Kratos. It was obvious that she already didn't trust him.

"We would like you to consider accompanying the Chosen. The priests that were supposed to protect her died in the Desian attack today." I'm trying not to think about the people who died today. I've never seen anyone die before.

"What about Genis?" It was obvious she was the type of person to think about everything before making decisions. "And who would teach at the school?"

"We would be willing to look after Genis until you returned," Frank spoke up. "And I'm sure we could arrange a substitute for the school."

"I'll gladly protect Colette." It was hard to read her face, but I'm positive it was the idea of leaving the young girl alone with Kratos that made up her mind.

"Thank you Raine," Phaidra smiled at the half-elf. I'm sure she was happy Raine was going for the same reason Raine decided to go. "Then we''ll leave the protection of the Chosen to Kratos and Raine."

It was now or never. I had to speak up if I wanted to go. "I would like to the accompany the Chosen as well."

"No." Kratos was first to speak up. "It's better to travel in a small group. You would just hinder the journey."

I prepared for this. "Is that so? Then I assume you'll protect the Chosen single-handedly?" I looked to Colette, and then Raine. "Pardon me if I'm wrong, Ms. Sage, but you're primarily a healer, right?"

"That's correct," she nodded.

"And you'll most likely force Colette to stand back, and not participate in battles, right?" Kratos only nodded. "Then that just leaves you fighting. What if you run into a group, or a powerful enemy? Not even the most skilled swordsman can handle every situation by himself. I may not be the best fighter, but two swords are better than one."

"Elijah makes a good point," Raine spoke up. Maybe she's not as crazy as she first seemed.

"Not only that, but I've spent a good deal of time traveling, and I know of places that could be seals." There, Kratos can't argue against that without breaking his cover.

"Elijah has brought up an important matter, and his knowledge would be helpful on the journey." Thank you Frank, I always thought you never got enough screen-time.

"Alright then. Eli, please accompany Colette." Ha! Score one for Eli, zero for Kratos.

"Thank you, it would be my honor." Hopefully by going along with the game, I'll figure out some clue as to why I'm here.

"Now that everything is settled, please, stay for dinner," Frank offered as he stood up from the table.

Kratos simply nodded, probably deep in thought about something. "Thanks, that would be great," I smiled. It's getting pretty late in the day, and I haven't eaten since this morning.

"Thank you," Raine answered, "I'm going to go check on Genis first though." She was about to stand up when Colette spoke for the first time in a while.

"I think he said something about going with Lloyd," she informed Raine, with her normal smile on her face. Her face must get sore from smiling so much.

"Oh, well then," I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was upset that he didn't tell her, but it didn't show on her face at all. "Maybe I could help with the cooking?" It's weird how fast she changed her attitude. It's more than likely that she's Bi-Polar, and just hides it really well. It would explain her Ruin Mode.

"Uh, n-no..." Frank stuttered, "I think I can take care of it myself." Obviously Frank knew the dangers of Raine's cooking. That's one thing I'm not looking forward to.

"Does anyone have a map?" I looked around for any sign of movement after I asked the question. I figured we could spend the time we have planning the journey.

"I have one," Kratos nodded as he pulled a folded up piece of paper out of a pouch. "What are you using it for?" There was a tone of curiosity in his voice that was barely masked by his usual apathy.

"What's the point in just sitting around, when we can start to plot out the journey." I unfolded the map onto the table and took a good look at it. It was somewhat aged, and a little frayed. "Alright, so Iselia is here," I pointed to the town on the map, "Then we'll be traveling south to Triet."

"Where is the seal located, and should we stop at the House of Salvation?" Raine asked, shaking herself out of the daze she was in.

"Well, if it were up to me, I say we should stay at the House of Salvation. You get better rest sleeping on beds as opposed to the ground. Plus, there would be no need for a lookout that night." I was starting to wonder when Kratos was going to speak up.

"Unfortunately. It costs to stay at the House of Salvation." Speak of the dev-... angel. "We can't just be spending Gald without even thinking about it."

Objection! "But they wouldn't charge the Chosen."

"I agree with Eli," Raine spoke up. "It makes no sense to choose to sleep on the ground when beds are possible." I found it odd that Colette wasn't speaking at all. It was her journey after all.

"If Colette is fine with it, I think we've reached a decision." I'm sure Colette didn't mind either way, but I wanted her to have some kind of say in this.

"Hmm- Oh, yeah, that's fine!" She put a big smile on her face, but I could tell she was sad. I would be too if I was about to leave on a journey that would end my life.

I heard a 'Hmph' come from Kratos, most likely his way of surrendering. "Alright then, that's settled." I looked back to the map and used my finger to draw our path. "Alright, so the seal is probably here," I said as I drew a line from Triet to the Triet Ruins.

"The Triet Ruins?" Raine had that look in her eye.

"What makes you think that's where the seal is?" Kratos asked, being cynical like he always is.

"I have two major reasons," I thought these up a while ago, I really hope they work. "One is that the Angel Remiel said that the next seal was in the desert. The Triet Ruins are the only prominent ruins in the Triet region. The second is Polycarbonate."

"Polycarbonate!?" Please Raine, don't go crazy here.

I nodded. "The only entrance to the Ruins is blocked off by Polycarbonate. Beside it, there is a pedestal with angelic writing on it. I'm not proficient in Angelic, but one of the people I was with told me it said 'Oracle Stone' or something like that."

"That must be the seal then!"

"Sorry to interrupt, but dinner's ready," Frank said as he stepped into the room.

* * *

Dinner was pretty uneventful, with only a little bit of conversation. Genis came in about halfway through, obviously stressed about something. On cue, Colette decided that she wanted to visit Lloyd one last time, so now we were on our way to Dirk's house.

"You don't have to hit me!" Lloyd shouted and slammed the door just as we arrived. "Oh, let me guess, you guys heard that just now. "

"I'm sorry Lloyd, this is my fault..." Genis hadn't really talked to much about what happened after he and Lloyd left, so I'm sure Raine was curious.

"Don't worry about it," Lloyd replied, putting a big smile on his face.

"Hey, Lloyd," Colette stepped forward and smiled, "Do you want to talk?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute." Colette smiled and went to sit on the bench, and everybody else wandered around.

I decided I would talk to Noishe, so I walked over to the stable. "Hi," I said quietly to the dog-like creature. "I'm Eli."

Noishe curiously tilted his head then licked me. "Ugh, what's with that? I thought you didn't like strangers. Anyway, shouldn't you be pouncing on Kratos?"

I received a strange look from him and he growled a little, as if to say 'How do you know that?' "I know lots of things. Maybe I'll tell you about it some day."

Noishe whined and hesitantly rubbed his head against me. "It's too bad you're not at your last stage of evolution, otherwise you could probably kick Mithos' ass all by yourself." As I said that last comment, I heard footsteps coming from behind me. Please don't be Kratos.

"Hey." Luckily it was Lloyd's voice I heard. Now that I think about it, his voice is a bit different than how it sounded in the game. Oddly enough, it was more like a cross between his voices from both games.

"Hello," I nodded and turned around to look at him. I'm kind of surprised that he came to talk with me.

"Noishe seems to like you," He smiled as he stroked his 'dog's' fur. "He typically doesn't like strangers."

"Weird," I tilted my head, looking at the protozoan curiously. "Anyway, what's up?" I asked him, turning my attention back to the swordsman in red.

"So you're going on the World Regeneration Journey, right?" The way he asked the question, you could tell he was envious.

"That's right." My word choice was becoming a bit more relaxed. Subconsciously, I must be warming up to everyone. Typically it takes longer for me to be a bit more relaxed with people, but it makes sense, since I've 'known' them since I first played Tales of Symphonia. "How I pulled that off, I have no idea. That Kratos-guy is stubborn."

"Tell me about it," he replied with a laugh. "Speaking of Kratos, you both use Exspheres. How'd you get yours?"

I knew this question was coming. Luckily, I prepared for it. "I grew up in Luin, and you know there's a Human Ranch right next to the town, right?" He nodded in confirmation. "I had a friend who was a Desian."

"What!" Lloyd shouted, somewhat angrily. I could understand his reaction to my made up friend.

"Calm down, he wasn't a Desian by choice. Both of his parents were Desians, and he was raised in the Ranch." The expression on Lloyd's face calmed. "He hated what the Desians did. The only reason he stayed was so that maybe someday he could help take down the Desians."

"I never thought about Desians having families," he said quietly with a solemn expression on his face.

"Anyway, when I told him I was leaving Luin, he gave me this Exsphere and told me to take care of myself." Not that I'm really proud of it, but that was a good lie if I do say so myself.

"He sounds like he was really nice," I could tell Lloyd was having a hard time taking all of it in.

"You should always consider the possibility that people don't always have a choice in their situations." This world is already rubbing off on me. I've already started explaining the moral of the story. "Anyway, you should go talk to Colette, if you're done talking with everyone else. It'll be the last time you see her for a while." Luckily that was vague enough so I didn't have to lie.

"Right," he smiled and walked towards where Colette was sitting on a bench. I gave Noishe one more pat on the head, and decided I would go inside and explore.

I knocked on the door, kind of excited to see what Dirk was like. "Aye, come on in."

"Hi, you must be Dirk, Lloyd's father." It felt really weird looking down a bit. He wasn't that short, maybe 4'6" or close to there, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in bulk.

"That's right. We may not be related by blood, but I'm still his Dad." So now I've met two Halve-Elves and a Dwarf. In two days I'v met more interesting people than I have my whole life. "And who might you be," he asked as he held out his hand.

"Elijah Shaw," Never shake a dwarf's hand if you don't want your own to go numb. "I'm accompanying Colette on the World Regeneration Journey."

"I see. Take care of Colette. I know Lloyd really wanted to go." I wish I had an accent. Everything I say would sound so much cooler.

"I will," I replied with a nod. "Do you mind if I take a look around?"

"Not at all, make yourself at home." I didn't bother him anymore, since it looked like he was busy working on something.

I looked around the room. There were various weapons, and tools all over the room. Some of the sword designs were really interesting. I was half-tempted to pick one up, but realized that I would probably end up knocking them all over.

I made my way upstairs, if I remembered correctly, there was a... "Greetings, I am the magical, mysterious, and courageous... Wonder Chef!" ...a Wonder Chef location upstairs. As the cloud of smoke dissipated I got a good look at the magical chef. Yep, he was just as eccentric as he was in the game, waving that giant fork around.

"You're just as weird as you were in the game," I said under my breath.

"I resent that! I'm much more sane then they depicted me in that game! The fork isn't just for show, you know!" Sane my ass. Wait... what did he say?

"You know about the game?!" This is a surprising turn of events.

"Um... uh-oh... That's a secret!" You don't fool me, Wonder Chef. "So, Eli, how about I teach how to make Miso Stew?!" He just said my name!

"How do you no my name?"

"Uh... it's a secret!"

* * *

**I hope you guys liked the chapter. Please review!**


	5. The Journey of Regeneration

**How long has it been now? Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with school and work, and I've been working on some original stories, so I haven't had much time to work on this. Any way, special thanks goes to Arklight for finally pushing me over the edge to sit down and finish the chapter. So here it is. Review and let me know what you like, don't like, etc. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Journey of Regeneration**

"I gotta go now. Can we postpone the Miso Stew?"

This is insane. "Damn it, tell me, freaking Wonder Chef!" I shout as quietly as I can, grabbing the front of his chef's outfit with both hands. I'm not really sure what I want to hear from him. Whether this is all a dream and I'll wake up soon, or maybe I'm in a coma, and this is how my mind is coping.

"Alright, alright," he finally gave up, and I let him go. "I suppose I had to tell you some time, it just wasn't supposed to be so soon," he mumbles under his breath, barely loud enough for me to understand. "This isn't a dream," the Wonder Chef states as he smiles widely.

I'm not sure how to respond. Sure, I suspected as much, but I don't know what the alternative is, I just want him to tell me what's going on. "So, what is this then?"

"A different universe of course!" Honestly, I don't know what to say. I'm upset that he is still wearing that wide smile on his face. "You were brought here through a portal like the Otherworldly gate. You remember, right?"

What's he talking about? Why would there be an Otherworldly gate on Earth... I remember now! It was the night before I arrived in Iselia. I remember a bright light. "So what now? What about my family? Are they looking for me?"

"Don't worry about that right now. All you need to know is three things. 1! Don't tell anyone where you're from. 2! Don't tell anyone you know the future. 3! Don't die. If you die, there isn't any coming back," he explains with that smile still on his face. I'm still trying to get over the fact that I'm in an alternate universe. "The first two aren't really necessary, but they help prevent the third one. You really don't want Kratos going stabby stabby on you cause you let it slip that you know the future."

He has a good point. As insane as he is, the Wonder Chef was being very helpful. "Anyway," he goes on, laughing a bit at his example. "Take this," he hands me a gold ring, a lion's face and mane molded into the top. "This will save you from death, but only once. But still, try not to die at all.

"How do you know all this stuff?" All of this information seems odd, especially because it's coming from the Wonder Chef.

"It's a secret!" And with that, he disappears in a cloud of white smoke. Confused as hell, though thankful for the amount of knowledge I now have, I walk downstairs. I hadn't noticed before that there was a set of stairs going down in to the ground as well. I wonder what's down there? Maybe Dirk sleeps down there, he is a dwarf after all, and is probably much more comfortable underground.

I make my way outside and see Lloyd and Colette still talking on the bench there, so I decide to wander around. Everything that had been going had distracted me from actually looking around the area. It looked much as it did in the game, if maybe a bit larger. I walk around to the other side of the wooden house to where Anna's grave is, as well as Kratos who is kneeling down at the grave. I don't think he has heard me yet, as he hasn't moved.

"Paying respects?" I ask him, though far enough away to not be pierced by his sword if he decides to unsheathe it.

"Yes," he says as he stands up and turns around to look at me. "The dead deserve our respect, especially this woman who was able to escape the Desians and save her son." Regardless of his involvement in what happened, he had a point. She must have been a great woman. I look at her tomb stone, which says 'Loving mother who will be dearly missed.' Anna Irving... where was she from? Luin right? I wonder if I could...

"Can I ask you a question?" Kratos' words bring me out of my thoughts.

"You just did, but sure," I tease him with a small smirk.

"Humph," he grunts. "Why do you wish to accompany the Chosen?" he asks me with a curious stare.

I think about his question for a moment and then come up with the words. "It's the duty of all of Martel's children to assist the Chosen as much as we can. If I can help in anyway, then it's my duty to do so." Man, I sound like a seriously devout follower. I was never really religious back on earth. "I may not be that good with a sword, but at least I'm free," I say with a smile at Kratos.

"Humph," he grunts again and then turns away from me. That would mean it's time for me to put my plan in motion. I figure since I said I'm from Luin, then it's logical that I might know something about Anna.

"Irving..." I start quietly and say it over and over, pretending to think about the name. "That sounds really familiar." I notice Kratos looking at me curiously. I really don't want Kratos to get suspicious. I think I'll just save that for later. After some silence, Kratos looks away, and starts walking away from the grave of his wife.

"Chosen," I hear him speak. Somehow he makes it clear to Colette that it's time to go without saying anymore than that.

"Right," she says, with what looks like a frown on her face. Or at least as close to a frown as she can get while still smiling with the rest of her face. "Will I see you tomorrow Lloyd?"

"Of course," he smiles. I wonder if she gave him the wrong time. "I promise I'll have your birthday present by then." He's still smiling, but now he's staring at her, as if he's reinforcing his promise with the way he's looking at her. I think that's the most serious expression I've seen on his face outside of battle.

Colette stands and walks to where Raine, Genis, Kratos, and myself are gathered. "It was nice to meet you Lloyd," I say as we prepare to return to Iselia, "Though I'll probably see you again before we leave tomorrow."

"Yeah, same here," he says with a big smile. "I'll see you all tomorrow!"

* * *

We soon arrive back at Iselia, with only a few monsters encountered along the way. Kratos made quick work of those. I didn't even get to draw my sword. Genis looks as though he's barely awake, grabbing onto Raine just to keep standing. I noticed that Colette hadn't smiled the entire trip back, and still has a sad look on her face.

"I'll walk the Chosen back to her house," I volunteer. I point to Genis, "You probably need to get him in bed."

"Yes, he's had a long day," Rain replies. I see her frown a bit. I'm sure tomorrow Genis will regret ever going to the Human Ranch. "Remember, we're leaving right after the sun rises. We'll see you then." Raine gave a small smile and placed her hand on Genis's shoulder, guiding him to their home.

"You're more than welcome to accompany us, Kratos," I say. I figure he would want to make sure the Chosen got home safely.

"No, you seem to have things under control," he says in a matter of fact tone. I didn't expect that. "Goodnight Chosen One, Eli."

"Goodnight, Mr. Kratos," Colette says in a fake cheerful voice. I simply nod and he takes off to the outskirts of town. He must have a camp set up or something.

"Shall we?" I ask her, placing my hand on her shoulder, directing her to take the lead. She starts walking to her house and I drop my hand to my side. It is quite dark. Only a few houses have light pouring out of them, the rest are shades of black against a midnight blue sky. I could see the stars more clearly than I ever could on Earth. I wasn't very familiar with the positions of stars and constellations, but from what I could tell, these stars are not the ones I used to look up at on Earth.

We walk in quiet for a while. "Is something wrong Chosen? You've been really quiet ever since we left Lloyd's." It seems out of place this early in the game... if I can even call this a game anymore. Of course, we don't see Colette after she leaves Lloyd's house until the Renegade base. It makes sense that she would be upset for lying to Lloyd.

"I told him the wrong time," she says simply. So it really is that. She continues, "I just... I figured it would be better if I didn't see him again."

"I see."

"I hope he's not mad at me." I can hear her sob quietly. "I know it would've been harder for me to leave if he was going to be there, but I don't want his last memory of me to be of lying to him."

I walk a little bit closer to her and pat her back. "Lloyd doesn't seem like the type of guy to hold grudges against his friends, especially not you. I'm sure he'll forgive you," I say in my best comforting voice.

By this point she has broken out into full on crying. "Do you think so?" she asks. I'm not sure what to do. I'm not used to having teenage girls cry in front of me. I decide to rub her back and pull her close to me, trying to offer any comfort I can.

"I'm sure of it," I tell her as she cries into my chest. "I'm sure this will all turn out the way the Goddess plans it to," I say. I figure it wouldn't hurt to throw in something about Martel, since I'm supposed to be a devout follower.

"Thank you, Eli," she chokes as she steps back and wipes the tears from her eyes.

"You're welcome, Colette." We walk the rest of the way to her house in silence.

"Thank you again," she says as she approaches the door.

"Any time," I smile softly. "Get a good nights rest, we have a long day tomorrow."

"Right," she nods and and disappears into the house.

Ugh, I am not looking forward to walking tomorrow. Why did I volunteer to do this again? Oh, right, an imaginary Goddess asked me to. Am I crazy? I kind of feel crazy. I start making my way back to the inn. Iselia is dead quiet, which I guess should be expected from such a small village, even though it is bigger than it was in the game. As I'm walking to the Inn, I pass by a shop, which reminds me that I probably need to get a tent or a bedroll or something. It would be especially curious if I showed up without one, since I told everyone I was a traveller. The sign says they open up at about six, which should be right around sunrise. Wait... why can I read the sign, and for that matter, why can I understand what everyone is saying. Shouldn't everything be in Sylvaranti or something?

When I arrive at the inn, Abby is still sitting behind the front desk looking as if she was about to fall asleep before I walked in. "Hi Abby," I wave to her as I walk up to the desk.

"Hey Eli," she says, smiling, though she still looks tired. "I heard you're going with the Chosen on the journey of World Regeneration."

Wha- how did she know? I guess it is a small village, I'm sure gossip travels fast. "Yeah thats right." I nodded. "It's the least I could do for the Chosen One. I figured she could use all the help she could get so that she can finally regenerate the world after such a long time." I smile at her. "So this will be my last night here. Still have a room for me?"

"Of course," she nodded. "Like I said, we don't get very many visitors here. Same room as last night." I nod and proceed to open up my bag and pull out my bag of Gald. "On the house tonight," she shakes her head, "It's the least I can do for someone putting their own lives on hold to protect the Chosen."

I smile at her. "Thank you for everything Abby. In case I don't see you tomorrow, it was nice to meet you," I say, as I extend my hand to shake hers. I clasp my hand around hers and shake it gently before letting go and pulling my hand back. With that, it's time to go to bed, and I walk into the room, lit only by a small candle, closing the door behind me.

* * *

It was still dark when I woke up, though the sun was just starting to appear over the horizon. I quickly got up out of bed. I hate not knowing what the actual time was. I was probably going to have to learn how to tell time based on shadows, as frustrating as that seemed. I pul on my clothes as quickly as possible, then my shoes and then I attached my sword to my belt and slung by bag over my shoulder.

I left the Inn quietly, since it seemed like Abby wasn't up yet. I was going to head to the store when I saw Kratos walking towards Colette's house. I hurried and caught up to him. Light had already begun to fill the town, Sun farther over the horizon then it was when I woke up. "Good morning Kratos," I heard the sound of a sword being pulled out of it's sheath, though it didn't get all the way out. Kratos must have recognized my voice before he could finish drawing his sword. That guy was way too paranoid. "It's just Eli," I told him, standing as still as I could until he put his sword back into it's sheath.

"Good morning," he said turning to face me. "It's not quite time to leave yet," he said, as stoic as ever. He was carrying a large pack I assumed was filled with supplies for the journey.

I thought for a moment before saying anything . If I told him that I needed a new bedroll, he would probably ask what happened to my old one. "Yeah, I know, but I need to go get a new bedroll from the store. My old one got wet and then started to mold." He just sighed a bit.

"I already got one for each of us," he said, looking over his shoulder to the pack. "I made sure to get enough supplies to at least last us till Triet." Of course Kratos was on top of everything, I almost felt ridiculous for worrying about getting supplies.

"Great," I smiled. "Thank you Kratos. What do I owe you?" I asked him. I had money, so it wasn't necessary for him to have to use his own to buy me supplies.

"It's not necessary," he said, not showing any emotion. "I was paid to accompany the Chosen, that included supply money for all of us."

"I see, then thank you for getting those supplies then," I nodded. We walked together the rest of the way to Colette's house, neither of us saying anything. Soon, Raine and Genis were approaching us. "Good morning," I said, waving to them. I noticed that Genis was holding on to Raine even tighter than he was the night before, probably because he was anxious about her leaving without him.

"Morning," Raine replied, her face was frowning a bit. I couldn't tell if it was because she didn't want to be awake this early, or if it had something to do with how Genis was holding on to her with all his might. She leaned down to look at Genis. "Genis, I'll be back before you know it. Phaidra and Frank will take good care of you while I am gone."

Just as she finished speaking, Colette, Frank, and Phaidra walked outside. "Good morning everyone!" Colette greeted us, apparently back in her normally chipper mood after last night.

"Thank you all for protecting Colette on her journey," Phaidra said, bowing to us. "The world will be indebted to you when the Regeneration is completed." She turned to look at Raine and Genis. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of your brother."

"We've prepared some food for your journey to Triet," Frank said, handing Raine a bag that seemed to be filled with sandwiches. Quite a few people had gathered to send of Colette and her guardians. Colette walked around, talking to a few of them as we made our final preparations to leave.

"Here," Kratos handed me a rolled up piece of paper. "You can hold on to the map." I was a bit surprised by that, I figured Kratos wouldn't trust anyone other than himself to do the navigating. Or maybe I was just misunderstanding him and he just wanted me to hold on to it.

We soon were on our way. A large crowd had gathered by now. They were all wishing Colette luck on her journey. "I'll do my best!" She smiled and waved to the townspeople. I was trying as hard as I could to not think about what would happen to these people, to this town later in the day. I spotted Abby in the large crowd and waved . Hopefully she would make it through the tragedy that would befall this town.

Soon, we were out of the town gates, walking along the path to Triet. I'm sure what is waiting for me on this journey, all I know is that I'm here for a reason, and I'll do whatever I can to find out what that reason is.


End file.
